Don Juan


Book Description

Don Juan, the "Seducer of Seville," originated as a hero-villain of Spanish folk legend, is a famous lover and scoundrel who has made more than a thousand sexual conquests. One of Molière's best-known plays, Don Juan was written while Tartuffe was still banned on the stages of Paris, and shared much with the outlawed play. Modern directors transform Don Juan in every new era, as each director finds something new to highlight in this timeless classic. Richard Wilbur's flawless translation will be the standard for generations to come, as have his translations of Molière's other plays. Witty, urbane, and poetic in its prose, Don Juan is, most importantly, as funny now as it was for audiences when it was first presented.




The Teachings of Don Juan


Book Description

In 1968 University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda.ÊThe Teachings of Don Juan enthralled a generation of seekers dissatisfied with the limitations of the Western worldview. Castaneda's now classic book remains controversial for the alternative way of seeing that it presents and the revolution in cognition it demands. Whether read as ethnographic fact or creative fiction, it is the story of a remarkable journey that has left an indelible impression on the life of more than a million readers around the world.




Don Juan


Book Description

First published in 1990, Don Juan: Variations on a Theme explores the differing perceptions of this famous character following his first appearance on the European stage in the early seventeenth century. The book concentrates on the ways in which perceptions of Don Juan’s character have altered in response to changes in social and moral values. It examines famous Don Juan works, including those by Moliere, Byron, Pushkin, Shaw, Anouilh, and Max Frisch, and relates them to these changing views. It also looks at a variety of other plays, poems, and novels on this theme, and highlights the important role of music in Don Juan’s history. The book concludes with a consideration of Don Juan’s lasting popularity and whether it has run its course. Don Juan: Variations on a Theme will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of Don Juan, comparative literature, and European literature.




Sganarelle, or, the Self-Deceived Husband


Book Description

'Sganarelle, or The Imaginary Cuckold' is a one-act comedy in verse by Molière. The story deals with the consequences of jealousy and hasty assumptions in a farcical series of quarrels and misunderstandings involving Sganarelle (the imagined cuckold of the title), his wife, and the young lovers, Célie and Lélie.




Don Juan


Book Description

"He's a beast I tell you - a real animal" What happens when you've lived only for pleasure, and you finally run out of time? When you've broken every promise, outraged every decency and slept your way through half of Europe - where do you turn as the clock starts to tick towards midnight? Neil Bartlett's new translation brings out all the dark undercurrents of Molière's wickedly black comedy.




The Story of Don Juan


Book Description

"The crazy life and courageous death of a man who loved women too much to want only one." Don Juan is a passionate lover of life and nearly 1,000 women. One night, the Commendatore of Calatrava catches him kissing his daughter, and challenges him to a duel. Don Juan wins the duel, which of course means that the Commendatore is slain-and so begins the end for the incorrigible seducer. Dave Eggers says, of the series: "I couldn't be prouder to be a part of it. Ever since Alessandro conceived this idea I thought it was brilliant. The editions that they've complied have been lushly illustrated and elegantly designed."




The Teachings of Don Juan


Book Description

The story of Castaneda's remarkable spiritual journey -- in which he becomes the apprentice of a Yaqui shaman and spiritual warrior named Don Juan -- is a quest to become a "man of knowledge".







Don Juan and the Point of Honor


Book Description

In Don Juan and the Point of Honor, James Mandrell undertakes a systematic examination of the many questions surrounding the legendary character. What emerges is a view of Don Juan as a positive social force in patriarchal society and culture. Mandrell shows that Don Juan should not be treated as an innocent or outmoded cultural artifact.




The Metamorphoses of Don Juan's Women


Book Description

While many scholars have approached Don Juan in terms of myth, this study argues for the understanding of Don Juan as a discourse of gender relations, changing over time. Using examples from the plays by Tirso de Molina, Moliere, Mozart, Zorrila, Shaw and Frisch, it argues that Don Juan's entire identity as a male individual is constructed around women, but that over time - reflecting a growing sense of crisis in the male individual - the women appear more and more pathological in their desire for Don Juan. In contrast with early modern works where women fend for themselves in a positive manner, the heroines of later Don Juan works actively prey on the individual male.This book argues that these changes in approach to the female characters, and, in tandem, the developing identity of the male protagonist, suggest Don Juan as dischronic discourse rather than myth.